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Bruins top Canadiens in 2OT, take series lead

Apr 24, 2011 - 6:08 AM Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Nathan Horton scored at the 9:03 mark of the second overtime to give the Boston Bruins a 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

In the second overtime, Tim Thomas kept the game alive with a beautiful save on Brian Gionta on a 2-on-1 break about 5 1/2 minutes in and the Bruins backed him up a few minutes later.

Andrew Ference threw a shot on net from the top of the left circle that Milan Lucic got a piece of and Carey Price stopped. The rebound, though, sat at the right side and Horton was there to slam it home to give Boston a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven-series.

"I saw the rebound come out, it was like it's in slow motion," said Horton. "It was just sitting there. It felt good to put that in the net. That was an exciting game to be a part of tonight."

It was the first time in this series that the home team won. Montreal took Games 1 and 2 in Boston, before the Bruins returned the favor on the Canadiens in Games 3 and 4 at Bell Centre.

Brad Marchand scored in the third period while Thomas made 44 stops for the Bruins, who will look to end the series on Tuesday in Montreal.

Jeff Halpern notched the lone goal and Price made 49 stops for the Canadiens, who were 0-for-2 on the power play in the game.

"We made a push late and had our chances," said Halpern. "But they had their chances too and they took advantage of one more than we did."

The first period saw Price stop 12 shots and Thomas 10, but it was Boston winger Michael Ryder who made the biggest stop of the frame as he covered the net with Thomas out of position on a Tomas Plekanec shot.

The second period passed the same as the first with Price stopping nine shots and Thomas six.

Boston was the first to breakthrough at the 4:33 mark of the third. Good cycling saw the puck being held by Marchand at the right side. He passed the puck over to the left where Patrice Bergeron attempted a one-timer, but his stick broke. The puck, though, came back to Marchand and he slammed it into the open net for a 1-0 lead.

However, Montreal tied the game with 6:04 to play in regulation as a bouncing puck went to the slot where Halpern grabbed it and shifted to the left before snapping a wrister past Thomas.

Thomas stopped nine shots in the first overtime and Price turned aside 12.

Game Notes

Boston was 0-for-3 on the power play...Bergeron has four assists in the series...This is the 33rd playoff series between these two Original Six rivals. Montreal has won 24 of them, but Boston has claimed five of the previous eight series and swept the Habs in four games the last time the two clubs met in the 2009 quarterfinals.